Method, device, and computer program product for managing application environment

ABSTRACT

In a method, a set of attribute information is received from a set of sensors in the application environment, respectively. Based on the set of attribute information, a state of the application environment is obtained. Based on a knowledge base associated with the application environment, reference information corresponding to the state of the application environment is determined, and the reference information represents candidate information that a user in the application environment needs in the state. The reference information is provided to the user. Further provided are a corresponding device and a corresponding computer program product. With exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the manual labor loads in the application environment can be reduced for the user, and information required in the current state can be provided to the user, thus reducing mis-operations of the user caused by mistakes in human discretion.

RELATED APPLICATION(S)

The present application claims priority to Chinese Patent ApplicationNo. 202010361548.4, filed Apr. 30, 2020, and entitled “Method, Device,and Computer Program Product for Managing Application Environment,”which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to management ofapplication environments, and more particularly, to a method, a device,and a computer program product for managing an application environmentbased on data collected by a sensor.

BACKGROUND

With the development of computer technologies, many types of applicationenvironments have emerged. In order to ensure the stable operation of anapplication environment, an administrator and/or user of the applicationenvironment needs to track the state of the application environment andadjust the application environment based on human discretion. However,these solutions are not satisfactory in terms of execution efficiency.At this point, how to manage the application environment and ensure itsnormal operation has become a research hotspot.

SUMMARY

Therefore, it is expected to be able to develop and implement atechnical solution for managing an application environment in a moreeffective manner. The technical solution is expected to be compatiblewith the existing management system of the application environment, andto implement and manage the application environment in a more effectivemanner by modifying various configurations of the existing managementsystem.

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method formanaging an application environment is provided. In the method, a set ofattribute information is received from a set of sensors in theapplication environment, respectively. Based on the set of attributeinformation, a state of the application environment is obtained. Basedon a knowledge base associated with the application environment,reference information corresponding to the state of the applicationenvironment is determined, and the reference information representscandidate information that a user in the application environment needsin the state. The reference information is provided to the user.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, provided is anelectronic device, including: at least one processor; and a memorycoupled to the at least one processor, wherein the memory hasinstructions stored therein, and the instructions, when executed by theat least one processor, cause the device to perform an action formanaging an application environment. The action includes: receiving aset of attribute information from a set of sensors in the applicationenvironment respectively; obtaining a state of the applicationenvironment based on the set of attribute information; determiningreference information corresponding to the state of the applicationenvironment based on a knowledge base associated with the applicationenvironment, wherein the reference information represents candidateinformation that a user in the application environment needs in thestate; and providing the reference information to the user.

According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, provided is acomputer program product, tangibly stored on a non-transitory computerreadable medium and including machine-executable instructions forexecuting the method according to the first aspect of the presentdisclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features, advantages, and other aspects of the embodiments of thepresent disclosure will become more apparent in conjunction with thedrawings and with reference to the following detailed description. Here,several embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in an exemplaryand non-limiting manner. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 schematically shows a block diagram of an application environmentin which a method according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure can be used;

FIG. 2 schematically shows a block diagram of a process for managing anapplication environment according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 3 schematically shows a flowchart of a method for managing anapplication environment according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 4 schematically shows a block diagram of a process for managing anapplication environment according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 5 schematically shows a block diagram of a process for determiningreference information according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 6A schematically shows a block diagram of a user interface fordisplaying reference information according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 6B schematically shows a block diagram of a user interface fordisplaying reference information according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 7 schematically shows a block diagram for displaying referenceinformation in a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent disclosure; and

FIG. 8 schematically shows a block diagram of a device for managing anapplication environment according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure will now be describedin more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.Although illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure are shown inthe drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure can beimplemented in various forms and should not be limited by theembodiments set forth herein. Instead, these embodiments are provided inorder to make the present disclosure more thorough and complete, and tofully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in theart.

As used herein, the term “including” and variations thereof meanopen-ended inclusion, that is, “including but not limited to.” Unlessspecifically stated otherwise, the term “or” means “and/or.” The term“based on” means “at least in part on.” The terms “one exemplaryembodiment” and “one embodiment” mean “at least one exemplaryembodiment.” The term “another embodiment” means “at least one furtherembodiment.” The terms “first,” “second,” and the like may refer to thesame or different objects. Below may also include other explicit andimplicit definitions.

It will be appreciated that the application environment can include avariety of environments. Assuming that a user is an administrator of adata center, the application environment may include a user's workingenvironment, that is, the data center. The application environment canalso include the user's living environment, such as the user's vehicleenvironment, the user's residence environment, the user's shoppingenvironment, the user's dining environment, and so on. For convenienceof description, a specific embodiment of the present disclosure will bedescribed below only using a data center as an example of an applicationenvironment.

First, referring to FIG. 1, an application environment of an exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure will be described. FIG. 1schematically shows block diagram 100 of an application environment inwhich a method according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure can be used. The application environment may include a largenumber of electronic devices 110, as shown in FIG. 1. Further, theapplication environment may also involve environmental parameters, forexample, temperature, humidity, air quality, etc. Now, variouselectronic devices and various environmental parameters can becontrolled independently. However, at present, an administrator in thedata center has to shuttle between multiple devices such as theelectronic devices, a temperature control device, a humidity controldevice, and an air quality control device. At present, how to manage alarge number of electronic devices in the application environment andcontrol the various environmental parameters become a research hotspot.

It is desirable to provide a more effective technical solution formanaging an application environment. In order to solve the defects inthe above technical solution, the exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure provides a technical solution for managing an applicationenvironment. In this technical solution, a plurality of sensors may beused to collect information in various aspects of the applicationenvironment in order to determine a state of the applicationenvironment. First, an outline of an exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2schematically shows block diagram 200 of a process for managing anapplication environment according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of sensors 212, . . . , and 214 may bedeployed in application environment 210 to collect a set of attributeinformation 222, . . . , and 224 of the application environment,respectively. Then, state 220 of the application environment may bedetermined based on a set of attribute information 222, . . . , and 224.Further, reference information 240 for managing application environment210 may be determined and presented based on state 220 of theapplication environment and knowledge base 230 storing knowledgeassociated with application environment 210.

With the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a user does nothave to check each piece of attribute information in applicationenvironment 210 one by one. On the one hand, various attributeinformation of application environment 210 can be automaticallycollected; on the other hand, relevant reference information 240 formanaging application environment 210 can be more accurately determinedbased on the knowledge base 230. In this way, manual labor loads can bereduced for the user, and faults of application environment 210 causedby a mistake in human discretion can also be reduced.

More details regarding an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosurewill be described hereinafter with reference to FIG. 3. FIG. 3schematically shows a flowchart of method 300 for managing applicationenvironment 210 according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 3, at block 310, a set of attributeinformation is received from a set of sensors in application environment210, respectively. According to an exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure, attribute information may be collected via multiple types ofsensors.

Specifically, the sensors may include at least any one of: an imagesensor, a video sensor, an audio sensor, a temperature sensor, ahumidity sensor, a pressure sensor, an air quality sensor, a smokesensor, a speed sensor, an acceleration sensor, a vibration sensor, alight sensor, a position sensor, etc. With the exemplary embodiment ofthe present disclosure, attribute information may be collected fromdifferent sensors based on the type of application environment 210.

For example, in a data center environment, a set of attributeinformation may be received from image sensors, temperature sensors,humidity sensors, and air quality sensors deployed in the data center,and from image sensors and sound sensors in a mobile device of theadministrator of the data center. For another example, in a vehicleenvironment, a set of attribute information may be received from speedsensors, acceleration sensors, vibration sensors, etc. deployed in thevehicle. In this way, various types of attribute information that areexpected to be monitored may be obtained, thereby facilitatingcomprehensive and effective management of the application environment.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, theattribute information may further include the user's location, andapplication environment 210 to be managed may be determined based on thechange in the user's location. Specifically, a set of attributeinformation may be received according to a determination that the userenters application environment 210. For example, when the user islocated in a work environment of the data center, it can be consideredthat the user is working and a state of the data center should beprovided to the user at this time. When the user has left work and isgoing to drive home, vehicle-related sensors may be activated based on adetermination that the user enters a vehicle environment.

It will be understood that in different application environments, theattribute information expected to be monitored may be different. Withthe exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the applicationenvironment around the user may be determined based on factors such asthe user's location and/or time, which can more accurately determinewhich sensors are expected to be activated to collect attributeinformation.

At block 320, based on a set of attribute information, state 220 of theapplication environment is obtained. According to an exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure, the received set of attributeinformation may be merged to determine state 220 of the applicationenvironment. FIG. 4 schematically shows block diagram 400 of a processfor managing application environment 210 according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure. For example, attribute informationfrom each sensor may be stored based on a vector. In one example, allthe attribute information received may be organized in a serial manner.Assuming that n pieces of attribute information are received, state 220of the application environment may be represented by an n-dimensionalvector. For example, all the attribute information may be organized inthe order of images of the overall environment of applicationenvironment 210, temperature, humidity, and images of variousapplication objects in the application environment. In this case, eachdimension in the vector represents one piece of attribute information.

It will be understood that the collected attribute information mayinvolve a large amount of data, and in this case, the collected data maybe processed based on, for example, artificial intelligencetechnologies. For example, the above n-dimensional vector may be mappedto the merged attribute information 410 based on a machine learningmethod. For another example, pre-processing may be performed on thecollected set of attribute information to find fault information relatedto potential faults, so that reference information related to the faultinformation can be provided in the future. According to an exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure, the received attribute informationmay be filtered in order to determine attribute information that maycause a fault in application environment 210. According to the exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure, the collected higher-dimensionalattribute information may be mapped to lower-dimensional data based onother technologies that have been provided and/or will be developed inthe future to facilitate later processing and analysis.

Application environment 210 may include application objects, and thesensors may collect images about each application object. In this case,the set of attribute information may include the images of theapplication objects. It will be understood that during the operation ofan application object, the basic state related to the object may beobtained from an external image of the application object. Furthermore,the state of the application object may be determined based on theimage.

It will be understood that although communicating with variousapplication objects and obtaining detailed internal state informationmay be more helpful in determining states of the application objects,the images obtained may be used to quickly obtain the basic states ofthe application objects without the need for complex communicationinterfaces. In this way, the complexity of managing applicationenvironment 210 can be simplified and the management performance can beimproved.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, theapplication objects may include electronic devices in the data center.It will be understood that each electronic device generally has acontrol panel, and the control panel may provide various states of theelectronic device. In the following description, an indicator light atthe control panel will be used as a specific example to describe how todetermine the reference information. One or more indicator lights at thecontrol panel can display the operating state of the electronic device.Thus, the state of the electronic device may be determined based on aset of indicator lights of the electronic device in the image. In asimple example, it is assumed that the electronic device has only oneindicator light, and the “on” and “off” of the indicator light indicatethe power-on and power-off states of the electronic device,respectively. When the image of the electronic device displays thepower-off state of the indicator light, generated reference information240 may prompt the user that the electronic device is turned off.Further, the user may be prompted to check whether the power of theelectronic device is disconnected, and so on.

FIG. 5 schematically shows block diagram 500 of a process fordetermining reference information according to an exemplary embodimentof the present disclosure. Image 510 represents an image of a set ofindicator lights 512 of the electronic device. Specifically, the boxesshown in dark color may indicate that the indicator lights are “on” andthe blank boxes may indicate that the indicator lights are “off” Bydetermining whether a set of indicator lights 512 are “on,” state 520(for example, represented by a binary number “10001100,” where each bitrepresents the state of an indicator light) related to the electronicdevice may be determined. Further, state 520 may be input into knowledgebase 230 in order to search for reference information corresponding tothe state.

Related reference information matching state 520 may be found fromknowledge base 230, for example, the reference information at this timemay include fault information 530. Fault information 530 may includefaulty device ID, faulty device type, faulty device location, faulttype, repair suggestion, etc. It will be understood that the indicatorlights of the application object may represent the basic state of theapplication object. By identifying the states of the indicator lights,the fault of the electronic device may be determined in a simple andeffective manner. According to an exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the control panel may also include state information such asimages, text, videos, and/or sound. In this case, the sensors may beused to collect the above information, and the state of the electronicdevice may be determined based on an image recognition technology and/orother technologies to further determine corresponding referenceinformation.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, furthercommunication with the control system of the electronic device may beperformed in order to obtain more detailed information related to theelectronic device. For example, the CPU operating state of theelectronic device may be received. Assuming that the CPU resources arefound to be exhausted by a certain program, then fault information 530may further prompt to check the state of the program running in theelectronic device. In this way, potential faults in the electronicdevice may be located more accurately.

How to determine state 220 of the application environment has beendescribed above with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. How to manageapplication environment 210 based on the determined state will bedescribed below with reference to FIG. 3 again. At block 330, referenceinformation 240 corresponding to state 220 of the applicationenvironment is determined based on knowledge base 230 associated withapplication environment 210. Here, reference information 240 representscandidate information that the user in application environment 210 mayneed in the current state.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure,reference information 240 may include at least any one of: the locationof the electronic device, navigation to the location of the electronicdevice, guidance to operate the electronic device, etc. With theexemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the user may be providedwith reference information about many aspects of faulty electronicdevice. In this way, it may be convenient for the user to determine thenext action based on reference information 240.

According to the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, thesensors may be further used to collect the user's next action, and theknowledge base may be updated based on the user action. Assuming thatthe user does not go to the faulty device, but looks up the phone numberof a technical expert in the contacts of his mobile terminal, knowledgeabout the contact information of the technical expert can be added toknowledge base 230. In this way, the knowledge in knowledge base 230 maybe made more in line with user habits.

How to determine reference information 240 has been described above, andhereinafter, it will continue to describe how to provide referenceinformation 240 to the user with reference to FIG. 3. At block 340,reference information 240 may be provided to the user via variouspresentation devices. It will be understood that reference information240 herein may include many types of information, such as textinformation, image information, audio information, video information,and tactile information. Thus, according to the exemplary embodiment ofthe present disclosure, reference information 240 may be provided viavarious presentation devices. Specifically, the presentation device mayinclude at least any one of: a mobile display device, a display device,a projection device, a wearable display device, an audio device, ahaptic device, etc.

With the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, differentpresentation devices may be selected based on the type of applicationenvironment 210. For example, when the user is working with both handsand it is not convenient to carry a handheld display device, referenceinformation 240 may be presented through a wearable display device suchas glasses. An audio prompt for reference information 240 may also beprovided to the user based on an audio device. For another example, whenthe user is in a noisy application environment, reference information240 may be provided to the user based on vibration of a haptic device.With the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a presentationdevice that is most suitable for application environment 210 may beselected to provide reference information 240 to guide the user'ssubsequent actions.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a set ofattribute information may include an image of application environment210, and reference information 240 may be superimposed on the image.FIG. 6A schematically shows block diagram 600A of user interface 610Afor displaying reference information 240 according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure. The image in FIG. 6A is an imagefrom one sensor in application environment 210 (for example, an imagesensor for monitoring the global state of the data center). Generatedreference information 240 may be superimposed on the image. Referenceinformation 240 may include: prompt 620A for indicating a faulty device;navigation direction 630A for indicating a direction to the faultydevice; and fault information 530 for indicating related information ofthe faulty device.

With the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, in order toshow in a clearer manner the reference information that needs attentionfrom the user, reference information 240 may be superimposed on a realimage based on augmented reality (AR) technology. In particular, for thereference information related to position and navigation, thesuperimposed reference information may correspond to the positions ofthe application object and the application environment in the realimage. In this way, it can further facilitate the user in finding theapplication object that needs to be processed.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure,reference information may be provided to users further based on virtualreality (VR) technology, augmented reality (AR) technology, and mixedreality (MR) technology. For example, mobile display devices, displaydevices, projection devices, wearable display devices, audio devices,and haptic devices may be used to present uses with various types ofinformation, such as text information, image information, audioinformation, video information, and tactile information.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, thecamera of a mobile terminal held by a user may also serve as a sensor inapplication environment 210. In this case, reference information 240 maybe superimposed on the image collected from the user's perspective. FIG.6B schematically shows block diagram 600B of user interface 610B fordisplaying reference information 240 according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 6B, the user islocated at a passage between two rows of cabinets, and the image in userinterface 610B is an image collected in real time from the mobileterminal in the hand of the user. When the user's orientation changes,the content in user interface 610B changes accordingly. The user mayproceed in navigation direction 630B in order to reach the faulty deviceindicated by prompt 620B.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the usercan interact with reference information 240, and in this case, the stateof application environment 210 will change. Attribute information ofvarious aspects of the changed application environment may be furtherreceived to generate new reference information. If feedback of referenceinformation 240 from the user is received, reference information 240 maybe updated. Specifically, after checking reference information 240, theuser may take corresponding actions. For example, the user may travelalong navigation direction 630B shown in FIG. 6B and reach the vicinityof the faulty device. In this case, the reference information may beupdated based on the current position of the user collected by theposition sensor. Specifically, navigation direction 630B may be changedto prompt the user to turn left to reach the faulty device. In this way,the state of application environment 210 around the user may bedetermined in real time and reference information that most closelymatches the current state of application environment 210 may becontinuously generated.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure,different reference information 240 may be set with respectivepriorities. Assuming that the user is on the way to the location of thefaulty device and the smoke sensor finds that a fire may occur in thedata center at this time, then the reference information about the firemay be provided to the user with priority. For example, a map of escaperoutes, operation manuals for fire door, and so on may be provided.

Details of providing reference information 240 in the environment of thedata center have been described above with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B.How to collect attribute information about a vehicle and provide relatedreference information 240 will be described below in a vehicleenvironment. According to an exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the application environment may include the vehicleenvironment, and the image of the application object may include animage of a dashboard of the vehicle. It will be understood thatattribute information in various aspects of the vehicle is recorded inthe dashboard of the vehicle. An image sensor may be deployed inside thevehicle to collect an image of the dashboard of the vehicle. In thisway, attribute information of various aspects of the vehicle can beobtained in a simpler and more effective manner without having tointerface and communicate with a control system of the vehicle.According to the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, othersensors may also be deployed inside the vehicle in order to collect moreinformation on the state of the vehicle.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, theattribute information may be received from the control system of thevehicle. Here, the attribute information may further include at leastany one of the speed, acceleration, steering, engine speed, airbaginformation, tire information, and collision information of the vehicle.With the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, various vehicleparameters in the control system of the vehicle may be fully utilized todetermine the current state of the vehicle. In this way, the state ofthe application environment around the user may be determined moreaccurately, so as to retrieve more useful reference information 240 fromknowledge base 230.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure,reference information 240 may include at least any one of: safety guide,rescue information, and surrounding facility information. FIG. 7schematically shows block diagram 700 for displaying referenceinformation in a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent disclosure. Assuming that an airbag of the vehicle is detectedto be deployed, it can be determined that the vehicle has collided. Atthis time, reference information 720 may be projected at windshield 710of the vehicle. For example, the current location of the vehicle, rescuephone number, and related information of a repair station, etc. may bedisplayed.

It will be understood that when a vehicle fails, the user may not knowwhat measures should be taken because of stress and other factors. Withthe exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the user may beprovided with various types of candidate information regarding emergencyhandling of vehicle faults. In this way, the user may be assisted tomake correct determinations quickly, and to quickly deal with vehiclefaults while ensuring safety. Further, reference information 720 mayhelp the user to remain calm in a panic and determine the next actionbased on reference information 720.

It will be understood that specific steps for managing applicationenvironment 210 are described above only using the data center and thevehicle as two specific examples of application environment 210.According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure,application environment 210 may also include other environments. Forexample, application environment 210 may include the user's residence.When the user gets up in the morning, it can be determined that the userhas got up based on sensors such as cameras in the residence. At thistime, the user's mobile phone may display reference information 240 suchas a prompt to broadcast news, weather forecast, and trafficinformation. For another example, the application environment mayinclude any environment where the user is located. When the user isshopping in a department store, information about related products maybe displayed to the user's mobile phone; when the user is in a museum,information about exhibits may be displayed to the user; and when theuser is at a restaurant, information about food recommendations andcoupons may be displayed to the user.

The examples of the method according to the present disclosure have beendescribed in detail above with reference to FIGS. 2 to 7, and theimplementation of corresponding devices will be described below.Specifically, an apparatus for managing an application environment isprovided. The apparatus includes: a receiving module, configured toreceive a set of attribute information from a set of sensors in theapplication environment respectively; an obtaining module, configured toobtain a state of the application environment based on the set ofattribute information; a determining module, configured to determinereference information corresponding to the state of the applicationenvironment based on a knowledge base associated with the applicationenvironment, wherein the reference information represents candidateinformation that a user in the application environment needs in thestate; and a providing module, configured to provide the referenceinformation to the user. According to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent disclosure, the above-mentioned apparatus further includesmodules for performing other steps in method 300.

FIG. 8 schematically shows a block diagram of device 800 for managing abackup device according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 8, device 800 includes central processingunit (CPU) 801 that can perform various appropriate actions andprocesses according to computer program instructions stored in read-onlymemory (ROM) 802 or computer program instructions loaded from storageunit 808 into random access memory (RAM) 803. In RAM 803, variousprograms and data necessary for the operation of device 800 may also bestored. CPU 801, ROM 802, and RAM 803 are connected to one anotherthrough bus 804. Input/output (I/O) interface 805 is also connected tobus 804.

A plurality of components in device 800 are connected to I/O interface805 and the components include: input unit 806, such as a keyboard and amouse; output unit 807, such as various types of displays and speakers;storage unit 808, such as a magnetic disk and an optical disk; andcommunication unit 809, such as a network card, a modem, and a wirelesscommunication transceiver. Communication unit 809 allows device 800 toexchange information/data with other devices over a computer networksuch as the Internet and/or various telecommunication networks.

The various processes and processing procedures described above, such asmethod 300, may be performed by CPU 801. For example, in someembodiments, the method described above may be implemented as a computersoftware program that is tangibly embodied in a machine-readable mediumsuch as storage unit 808. In some embodiments, part or all of thecomputer program may be loaded and/or installed on device 800 via ROM802 and/or communication unit 809. When a computer program is loadedinto RAM 803 and executed by CPU 801, one or more steps of the methoddescribed above may be performed. Alternatively, in other embodiments,CPU 801 may also be configured in any other suitable manner to implementthe above-described process/method.

According to an exemplary embodiment, an electronic device is provided,including: at least one processor; and a memory coupled to the at leastone processor, wherein the memory has instructions stored therein, andthe instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause thedevice to perform an action for managing an application environment. Theaction includes: receiving a set of attribute information from a set ofsensors in the application environment respectively; obtaining a stateof the application environment based on the set of attributeinformation; determining reference information corresponding to thestate of the application environment based on a knowledge baseassociated with the application environment, wherein the referenceinformation represents candidate information that a user in theapplication environment needs in the state; and providing the referenceinformation to the user.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the setof attribute information includes an image of the applicationenvironment, providing reference information includes superimposing thereference information on the image, and the action further includesupdating the reference information based on a feedback received from theuser on the reference information.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, theapplication environment includes an application object, the set ofattribute information includes an image of the application object, andobtaining the state of the application environment includes determiningthe state of the application object based on the image.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, theapplication environment includes a data center, the application objectincludes an electronic device in the data center, and determining thestate of the application object based on the image includes: determiningthe state of the electronic device based on a control panel of theelectronic device in the image.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure,determining the reference information includes determining at least anyone of: the location of the electronic device, navigation to thelocation of the electronic device, and guidance to operate theelectronic device.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, theapplication environment includes a vehicle environment, the image of theapplication object includes an image of a dashboard of the vehicle, andthe set of attribute information may further include at least any one ofthe speed, acceleration, steering information, engine speed, airbaginformation, tire information, and collision information of the vehicle.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure,determining reference information may include determining at least anyone of: safety guide, rescue information, and surrounding facilityinformation.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the setof sensors may include at least any one of: an image sensor, a videosensor, an audio sensor, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, apressure sensor, an air quality sensor, a smoke sensor, a speed sensor,an acceleration sensor, a vibration sensor, a light sensor, and aposition sensor.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure,providing the reference information includes providing the referenceinformation via at least any one of: a mobile display device, a displaydevice, a projection device, a wearable display device, an audio device,and a haptic device.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure,receiving a set of attribute information includes receiving a set ofattribute information based on a determination that the user enters theapplication environment.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, acomputer program product is provided, wherein the computer programproduct is tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer readable mediumand includes machine-executable instructions for executing the methodaccording to the present disclosure.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, acomputer-readable medium is provided. Machine-executable instructionsare stored on the computer-readable medium, and when themachine-executable instructions are executed by at least one processor,the at least one processor is caused to implement the method accordingto the present disclosure. The present disclosure may be a method, adevice, a system, and/or a computer program product. The computerprogram product may include a computer-readable storage medium on whichcomputer-readable program instructions for performing various aspects ofthe present disclosure are loaded.

The computer readable storage medium may be a tangible device that canhold and store instructions used by an instruction executing device. Forexample, the computer-readable storage medium may be, but is not limitedto, an electric storage device, a magnetic storage device, an opticalstorage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductorstorage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing devices.More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readablestorage medium include: a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a randomaccess memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmableread-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), a static random access memory(SRAM), a portable compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM), a digitalversatile disc (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanicalencoding device, such as a punch card or raised structure in a groovewith instructions stored thereon, and any suitable combination of theforegoing media. The computer readable storage medium as used herein isnot to be interpreted as a transient signal itself, such as a radio waveor other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, an electromagneticwave propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g.,a light pulse propagating through a fiber optic cable), or an electricalsignal transmitted through an electric wire.

The computer readable program instructions described herein may bedownloaded from a computer readable storage medium to variouscomputing/processing devices or downloaded to an external computer orexternal storage device through a network, such as the Internet, a localarea network, a wide area network, and/or a wireless network. Thenetwork may include copper transmission cables, fiber optictransmission, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches,gateway computers, and/or edge servers. A network adapter card ornetwork interface in each computing/processing device receives computerreadable program instructions from the network and forwards the computerreadable program instructions for storage in a computer readable storagemedium in each computing/processing device.

Computer program instructions for performing the operations of thepresent disclosure may be assembly instructions, instruction setarchitecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine-relatedinstructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state setting data, orsource or object code written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages. The programming languages include object-orientedprogramming languages (such as Smalltalk and C++) and conventionalprocedural programming languages (such as “C” Language or similarprogramming languages). The computer-readable program instructions maybe executed entirely on a user computer, or partly on a user computer,or as a stand-alone software package, or partly on a user computer andpartly on a remote computer, or entirely on a remote computer or server.In the case of a remote computer being involved, the remote computer maybe connected to a user computer through any kind of network, including alocal area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or may beconnected to an external computer (for example, via the Internetprovided by an Internet service provider). In some embodiments, anelectronic circuit, such as a programmable logic circuit, a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA), or a programmable logic array (PLA), ispersonalized by utilizing the state information of the computer-readableprogram instructions. The electronic circuit can executecomputer-readable program instructions to implement various aspects ofthe present disclosure.

Various aspects of the present disclosure are described herein withreference to flowcharts and/or block diagrams of the methods,apparatuses (systems), and computer program products according toembodiments of the present disclosure. It should be understood that eachblock of the flow charts and/or block diagrams, as well as combinationsof blocks in the flow charts and/or block diagrams, may be implementedby computer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessing unit of a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, orother programmable data processing devices to produce a machine, suchthat these instructions produce, when executed by the processing unit ofthe computer or other programmable data processing devices, an apparatusimplementing functions/actions specified in one or more blocks in theflow charts and/or block diagrams. The computer readable programinstructions may also be stored in a computer readable storage medium.These instructions cause a computer, a programmable data processingdevice, and/or other devices to operate in a particular manner;therefore, the computer readable medium storing the instructionsincludes an article of manufacture that includes instructions forimplementing functions/actions specified in one or more blocks in theflow charts and/or block diagrams.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatuses, or otherdevices, such that a series of operational steps are performed on thecomputer, other programmable data processing apparatuses, or otherdevices to produce a computer-implemented process, and thus theinstructions implemented on the computer, other programmable dataprocessing apparatuses, or other devices can implement functions/actionsspecified in one or more blocks in the flow charts and/or blockdiagrams.

The flowcharts and block diagrams in the figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in theflowcharts or block diagrams may represent a module, a program segment,or a part of an instruction, which includes one or more executableinstructions for implementing a specified logical function. In somealternative embodiments, the functions marked in the blocks may alsooccur in a different sequence than those marked in the drawings. Forexample, two consecutive blocks may actually be executed substantiallyin parallel, and they may sometimes be executed in the reverse sequence,depending on the functions involved. It should also be noted that eachblock in the block diagrams and/or flow charts, as well as combinationsof blocks in the block diagrams and/or flow charts, may be implementedwith a dedicated hardware-based system that performs a specifiedfunction or action, or may be implemented with a combination ofdedicated hardware and computer instructions.

The embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above. Theabove description is exemplary, not exhaustive, and is not limited tothe disclosed embodiments. Numerous modifications and variations will beapparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scopeand spirit of the embodiments described. The terms used herein arechosen to best explain the principles and practical applications of theembodiments or improvements to technologies in the market, or to enableother ordinary skilled persons in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for managing an application environment,the method comprising: receiving a set of attribute information from aset of sensors in the application environment respectively; obtaining astate of the application environment based on the set of attributeinformation; determining reference information corresponding to thestate of the application environment based on a knowledge baseassociated with the application environment, wherein the referenceinformation represents candidate information that a user in theapplication environment needs in the state; and providing the referenceinformation to the user.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein theset of attribute information comprises an image of the applicationenvironment, providing the reference information comprises superimposingthe reference information on the image, and the method further comprisesupdating the reference information based on a feedback received from theuser on the reference information.
 3. The method according to claim 1,wherein the application environment comprises an application object, theset of attribute information comprises an image of the applicationobject, and obtaining the state of the application environment comprisesdetermining the state of the application object based on the image. 4.The method according to claim 1, wherein the application environmentcomprises a data center, the application object comprises an electronicdevice in the data center, and determining the state of the applicationobject based on the image comprises: determining the state of theelectronic device based on a control panel of the electronic device inthe image.
 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein determining thereference information comprises determining at least any one of: alocation of the electronic device, navigation to the location of theelectronic device, and guidance to operate the electronic device.
 6. Themethod according to claim 3, wherein the application environmentcomprises a vehicle environment, the image of the application objectcomprises an image of a dashboard of the vehicle, and the set ofattribute information further comprises at least any one of speed,acceleration, steering, engine speed, airbag information, tireinformation, and collision information of the vehicle.
 7. The methodaccording to claim 6, wherein determining the reference informationcomprises determining at least any one of: safety guide, rescueinformation, and surrounding facility information.
 8. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the set of sensors comprises at least anyone of: an image sensor, a video sensor, an audio sensor, a temperaturesensor, a humidity sensor, a pressure sensor, an air quality sensor, asmoke sensor, a speed sensor, an acceleration sensor, a vibrationsensor, a light sensor, and a position sensor.
 9. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein providing the reference information comprisesproviding the reference information via at least any one of: a mobiledisplay device, a display device, a projection device, a wearabledisplay device, an audio device, and a haptic device.
 10. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein receiving the set of attribute informationcomprises receiving the set of attribute information based on adetermination that the user enters the application environment.
 11. Anelectronic device, comprising: at least one processor; and a memorycoupled to the at least one processor, wherein the memory hasinstructions stored therein, the instructions, when executed by the atleast one processor, cause the device to perform an action for managingan application environment, and the action comprises: receiving a set ofattribute information from a set of sensors in the applicationenvironment respectively; obtaining a state of the applicationenvironment based on the set of attribute information; determiningreference information corresponding to the state of the applicationenvironment based on a knowledge base associated with the applicationenvironment, wherein the reference information represents candidateinformation that a user in the application environment needs in thestate; and providing the reference information to the user.
 12. Thedevice according to claim 11, wherein the set of attribute informationcomprises an image of the application environment, providing referenceinformation comprises superimposing the reference information on theimage, and the action further comprises updating the referenceinformation based on a feedback received from the user on the referenceinformation.
 13. The device according to claim 11, wherein theapplication environment comprises an application object, the set ofattribute information comprises an image of the application object, andobtaining the state of the application environment comprises determiningthe state of the application object based on the image.
 14. The deviceaccording to claim 11, wherein the application environment comprises adata center, the application object comprises an electronic device inthe data center, and determining the state of the application objectbased on the image comprises: determining the state of the electronicdevice based on a control panel of the electronic device in the image.15. The device according to claim 14, wherein determining the referenceinformation comprises determining at least any one of: a location of theelectronic device, navigation to the location of the electronic device,and guidance to operate the electronic device.
 16. The device accordingto claim 13, wherein the application environment comprises a vehicleenvironment, the image of the application object comprises an image of adashboard of the vehicle, and the set of attribute information furthercomprises at least any one of speed, acceleration, steering information,engine speed, airbag information, tire information, and collisioninformation of the vehicle.
 17. The device according to claim 16,wherein determining the reference information comprises determining atleast any one of: safety guide, rescue information, and surroundingfacility information.
 18. The device according to claim 11, wherein theset of sensors comprises at least any one of: an image sensor, a videosensor, an audio sensor, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, apressure sensor, an air quality sensor, a smoke sensor, a speed sensor,an acceleration sensor, a vibration sensor, a light sensor, and aposition sensor.
 19. A computer program product, tangibly stored in anon-transitory computer-readable medium and comprisingmachine-executable instructions that when executed by a processingdevice cause the processing device to: receive a set of attributeinformation from a set of sensors in the application environmentrespectively; obtain a state of the application environment based on theset of attribute information; determine reference informationcorresponding to the state of the application environment based on aknowledge base associated with the application environment, wherein thereference information represents candidate information that a user inthe application environment needs in the state; and provide thereference information to the user.
 20. The computer program productaccording to claim 19, wherein the set of attribute informationcomprises an image of the application environment, providing thereference information comprises superimposing the reference informationon the image, and further cause the processing device to update thereference information based on a feedback received from the user on thereference information.